Impetuous
by someone.else.before
Summary: Two years post Season 2. Eleven is inspired by something she saw on TV. Mike is along for the ride. One-shot.


Two years had gone by since Eleven and Mike were reunited. They were high school sophomores now, and a lot had changed, but they still acted like the world would end if they didn't spend practically all their free time together. Mike had been cautious about asking her to be his girlfriend - he wasn't sure that she would understand the concept - but when he finally asked, she agreed immediately. Still, there were some boundaries they hadn't crossed yet. It wasn't something they thought about much - until suddenly, recently, it was all either of them could think about.

On this particular day, Mike and El were sitting in her bedroom, studying for a History test, when El suddenly got the nerve to ask.

"Mike, can we try kissing… another way?"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt her face get hot and her stomach twist into knots. She couldn't believe that she'd just come out and said it – a sentence she'd been practicing in her head for a couple months, if not longer. She stole a glance at Mike, who looked shell-shocked.

"Um… okay!" he squeaked, blushing and avoiding her eyes. "Except… I don't know how to… but I guess we can try… if you, um, if you want to…"

She frowned, surprised that he already knew what she meant. "It's probably easy," she said, scooting closer to him on the bed. "Just try it."

"Okay," he said, looking determined. "I'm comin' in." Then he leaned in for a kiss while she simultaneously moved her head to the side, causing his forehead to collide with her jaw.

"Ow!"

Mike backed up, looking mortified. "I thought you said…"

She scrunched her eyebrows together. "What were you doing?"

"I thought you wanted me to… um… kiss you… like… with my tongue… and stuff…" his voice faded away into a humiliated creak.

She looked at him like he was a space alien. "With your tongue?" she blurted out.

"Okay, forget it," Mike said, standing up. "I'm going to go crawl into a hole now."

"Mike! Mike, wait," she said, tugging on his hand. "It's okay. I just…" she tilted her head. "is that a thing people do?"

He relented, sitting back down on the bed and studying her. "Yeah… it's called French kissing. You said you wanted to try… something different, so I assumed you meant…"

Now it was El's turn to blush. "That's not what I meant."

"Okay…" he said, looking at her curiously. "What did you mean, then?"

She sighed, the butterflies in her stomach making it hard to speak again. "I don't know, forget it."

She knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. "Friends don't lie, El," he told her, smiling. "I promise I won't laugh. And whatever you want to try…" he felt his palms sweat and he tried to breathe normally, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. "I'll try it."

El's mouth twisted up into a smile. "Promise?"

"Promise," he whispered.

It took her a moment to find the confidence to speak. "When I first started living here, when I was hiding and you didn't know where I was, I had this TV that I watched every day."

"I know," he said, and nodded for her to continue.

"I would watch these shows, and think about… what it would be like, I guess, to be out there. To be in the world." She laughed. "I was obsessed."

Mike looked serious, squeezing her hand. That wasn't a time he liked to think about. "I can understand that."

"Anyways," she said, shaking off the lonely memories. "Sometimes I would pretend that… we were together, like the people on the TV… and…"

"Yeah?" he asked quietly, hanging off her every word. He wondered exactly what kind of shows she had been watching.

"Um… I mean…" she sighed and bit her lip. "Can you just, like, kiss my neck?"

His eyes widened. "You want me to kiss your neck?"

She nodded furiously. "I saw it, once, on TV, and thought it looked, um, nice." It was hard to describe exactly why this idea had been stuck in her head for so long, but that didn't make it any less powerful. Just thinking about it made her stomach flutter.

Mike gulped. "Oh… okay. You want me to try it… now?" She nodded again, moving closer towards him and giving him a gentle, encouraging smile.

Mike wasn't exactly sure where he was supposed to start, so he picked a spot on the side of her neck and placed a kiss there, her soft hair tickling his forehead and nose. Another kiss - on her clavicle this time, the subtle indent seeming to demand his attention. He wasn't sure when his heart had started pounding but at this point it was impossible to ignore the sound of his pulse echoing in his ears. Slowly, he pulled back and met her eyes, which were so warm and deep he felt like he was drowning.

"More?" she asked quietly, breathlessly, and he didn't need to be told twice. With growing confidence, he returned to the place where her neck met her shoulder, then slowly worked his way up. Cautiously, he lifted his hand and placed it against her other cheek, his fingers lightly grazing her earlobe. She shivered and grabbed the edge of his shirt in her fists, pulling him closer almost unconsciously. Her eyes were closed.

"El?" he asked, suddenly worried. She opened her eyes and smiled at him, her expression dreamy.

"Felt nice," she said. "Like butterflies." And then: "Can I show you?"

Once again, Mike was shocked, his face flushing. He felt completely frozen as El leaned towards him, her warm breath hovering over a spot on his neck. She kissed him there and dragged her mouth up to his jawline, then back down to the base of his throat. Her lips were really soft and it was making him feel way too hot, way too fast, all over. El watched his ears turn red and giggled, meeting his gaze.

"You liked it too?" she asked, grinning.

He smiled back, feeling lightheaded. "Yeah, that was… uh… wow."

"Wow," she agreed, eyes bright.

Just then, a signal came through on the radio. It was Hopper - he was on his way back from work. Mike leapt off the bed. "I've got to go. He'll be pissed if he finds me."

El frowned but she nodded, following him out the back entrance. The chief definitely had an overprotective streak, and for some reason he really didn't like it when she and Mike spent time together alone. "I won't tell him you were here."

"Good call," Mike said, walking over to his bike and kicking out the kickstand. "Can I radio you later?"

She nodded, smiling. "I'll find you."

Mike grinned. He liked that she still wanted to use her powers to see him, even when they spent so much time together already. It made him feel special, somehow.

"Mike? Can we… um… try that again, sometime?" El asked, her feet shuffling nervously.

Mike shot her a lopsided grin before dropping his bike and walking back towards her. He put his hands on her face and kissed her gently, just like he had a hundred times before - but there was an extra charge to it, no question.

"Definitely," he whispered as he pulled away. Her smile was brighter than the sun.

On his bike ride home, Mike had a lot of trouble focusing on the road. He almost ran into a tree, twice. All he could think about was El, which wasn't unusual, but now he had a new question on his mind.

"What's she going to come up with next?"


End file.
